Are there any ingredients you avoid in your makeup/skincare?

Friday, June 18th, 2010

Are there any ingredients you avoid in your makeup/skincare? What do you avoid? How come?

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I’m wary of products with seemingly high concentrations or levels of silicone-based ingredients, because my skin always seems to break out into incredibly large and painful pimples that take forever to go away.

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95 thoughts on “Are there any ingredients you avoid in your makeup/skincare?”

Silicones for me as well. Any high concentration makes my skin burn. I’ll also echo Claudine about animal testing. Once all the products I have run out, I won’t be repurchasing from such brands. Which sucks, because my favorite tinted moisturizer is from Neutrogena…

I avoid petroleum jelly and mineral oil at all costs. In lip balm (and gloss) and cream, it does not absorb into skin. It is helpful in acting as a protective barrier for extremely chapped lips (ie: cuts and cracks) but it does not actually provide moisture for the skin. Also, after multiple uses it actually breaks down your skin’s (including skin on lips) natural oil barrier and so once it wears off, the skin is actually in worse condition than before. Ingredients such as shea butter actually absorb into skin and provide moisture.

Pretty much any product i cant pronounce or never heard of. I’ve gotten away from using products with salicylic acids or just lots of ahas because they seemed to break me out. I stay with more natural ingredients like essential oils or natural acids. I love lush!

The only thing I avoid is Mineral oil, which is in some skin care products like face creams/lotions. It’s like byproducts of distilled petroleum. I avoid it because it can clog pores and can cause premature aging and is also linked to cancer. So I pretty much avoid ALL Ponds products, because most of their products have mineral oil in them.

I used to avoid anything with too many chemicals, parabens, phthalates, talc, sls etc… I only really try to stay away from parabens now. I found you really cant run from bad ingredients and be a makeup/beauty obsessed person. *sigh*

I try to avoid sls (sodium laurel sulfate) and parabens in my skincare items. I could care less about what’s in the actual makeup, as long as it’s pretty! Oh and that the companies doesn’t test on animals.

I avoid benzoyl peroxide completely. I was using Clinique’s Acne Solutions Emergency Gel as lotion, as in I used it all over my face in large quantities. I didn’t know you were supposed to use it as a spot treatment! After about two years of this, I developed an allergy to the main ingredient: benzoyl peroxide. Now whenever I use even the tiniest amount my face breaks out in a red, burning and itchy rash. My bad.

Thanks Christine, that’s really good to know. I never made that connection and I definitely have those monsters pop up from time to time! I’ve been trying some more silicone based products recently to smooth things out–large pores,acne scars:( Anything else I could try? The only two products I avoid (that I can think of)-alcohol and petroleum-possible breast cancer link to petroleum. Info from Dr.Oz-he seems pretty on top of things! I also try to avoid fragrance or any other irritant.

I’ve got a whole list! I’m unfortunatly very prone to skin breakouts, so most silicone-based products are a no-go for me. I also avoid products that contain Sodium Lauryl Sulfate and formaldehyde. And when a product claims to be ‘natural’ and ‘organic’, i always check the ingredients list to check if ‘all those natural ingredients’ aren’t on the bottom of that list :-p

I try to avoid skincare products with petrochemicals in them (like petrolatum and mineral oil) just because I don’t really like the idea of them. They’re pretty hard to avoid in lip products so I don’t follow it too strictly, but I tend to stay away from facial moisturizers and other products that contain petrochemicals.

My skin just so happens to be your skin’s crazy, hormonal half-sister It freaks out at the slightest sight of ‘cones — I’ve cut them out of my routine altogether! (And it’s a huge PITA, might I add.) So far it’s been… quite the experience. We’ll just put it that way

I really don’t understand the whole issue about silicone-based products, probably because I’d never had problems with them in particular. I do try to avoid moisturizers with SPF (while I apply sunscreen on separately) because sometimes they do tend to be a little oily and thick, thus not being moisturizing enough.

Yeah definitely ! I avoid any bad ingredients such as paraben , phenoxyethanol and all those kind of stuffs. I try to use the most of natural to organic products that I can for instance Origins , Caudalie , Weleda , Dr Haushcka and Sanoflore.

yeah stuff like salicylic acid and benzoyl peroxide ingredients that are supposed to reduce acne actually cause more on my skin. yeah these types of ingredients are way too harsh for my uber sensitive skin. i tend to stick with more natural ingredients for skin care.

I just try too stay away from mineral-make-up as it turns my dry skin into an itchy-patchy mess. Especially foundations. And I also try to boycott companies doing animal-testing, though to be honest I can’t when it comes to mascara :/

the testing on animals is kinda stupid anyway as an idea…the biggest concern about face-makeup are the pimples and I don’t think animals get pimples…the bad thing with makeup is that even if you think you got the right ingredients it can still break you out like crazy

I try to keep silicones out of my skincare and foundation. Parabens I try to keep out of skincare, haircare and always, always lip products. I can’t give up some of my favorite eye shadows or concealer that have them in there, so I’m willing to make a small concession.

I have to say I’m really tired of looking at every single bottle of something in search for those stinking parabens. If some companies can find ways around them, why can’t they all?

Oh, and I only wear 3 Free nail polish and also try not to buy any with formaldehyde resin, which they say is safe, but I’m still leery of.

I stay away from anything that has animal products in them like Carmine, bee’s wax, and stuff like that because I am a vegan! I also stay away from companies that test on animals, because it is just wrong!

that happened to you too?! i was so confused! i tried bare minerals and for the first couple days i LOVED it…then all of the sudden, i now have little bumps all over my face. tiny tiny ones that i never had before. ive had slight acne for a while now but never tiny bumps. what have you been doing for it?

Non-comedogenic on a label is basically useless. What breaks me out won’t necessarily break you out. For instance, coconut oil is generally known for being very comedogenic, but I’ve seen a lot of people online talk about using it in their skin care routines. And mineral oil is rated a 0, meaning it’s not supposed to be comedogenic at all, but a lot of people claim that it breaks them out.

It’s a lot smarter to simply look up the ingredients in a product on a comedogenic list such as this one:http://www.dermaxime.com/acne-comedogenic-ingredients.htm
Even then, it’s not a guarantee that you won’t break out by avoiding certain ingredients! Like squalane, it’s barely comedogenic, but it breaks me out, as with all other olive-based ingredients.

I can’t do silicone either, at least not a lot of it — especially in the winter. When I tried Photofinish, the skin around my nose and chin flaked so bad, that it took weeks to heal. I use the NARS primer now and love it.

About a year ago, I started getting rid of products that have parabens and only purchase products without parabens now. It’s pretty easy, except for a brow pencil. I only like pencils to fill in my brow and I have not been able to find a paraben-free brow pencil.

I prefer to avoid animal-tested products, too. In terms of ingredients, I absolutely avoid shea butter in face products, as it breaks me out like mad. I also try to stay away from petroleum-based lip products, though that’s harder to do.

I mainly get products that are oil-free because I have combination skin, my tzone is very oily. As far as skincare, I also look for things that are for acne prone skin; I like using a combination of products that have salicylic acid and benzoyl peroxide, they really help my breakouts disappear.

Bismuth Oxychloride. It gives the glow and sparkle to many mineral type make-ups but it turns my skin bright red wherever it comes in contact. I’m always reading ingredient labels and checking to make sure it’s not being used.

I try to avoid parabens as much as possible, but with brands like MAC… I can’t resist.
I also refuse to buy anything tested on animals and anything with non-vegetarian ingredients such as gelatin (I’m not sure how often gelatin appears in beauty products, but just an example from the top of my head). I like to buy vegan products as often as possible, simply because I cannot become a vegan due to allergies to several non-meat protein sources, and buying vegan makeup won’t affect my health.
Also, I like to avoid mineral oil as much as possible from brands that aren’t as reliable as others, as it is the most highly animal-tested cosmetic ingredient out there.

I don’t care about parabens, in fact I’d prefer myself some parabens. I hate products going bad soon and starting to grow bacteria!
I don’t get the fuss about SLS/SLES unless you’re worried about its drying effect.
Oils can be your friend even if you have oily skin. Like cleansing oils, rosehip oil, antioxidant grapeseed oil etc. Oil-free doesn’t mean it won’t make you oily/shiny or clog your pores. Most of the time, it will.

There are a lot of ingredients I avoid. I avoid chemical sunscreen ingredients in facial products, bismuth oxychloride, added fragrances, added dyes, surfactants, algae/seaweed or anything that comes from the sea, cocoa butter, coconut oil, almond oil, kaolin clay, granulated scrubbing particles (of any kind)… There are a lot of ingredients I’ll avoid, primarily ones that get a rating of 2 or higher on the comedogenic lists.

I’m probably alone in this, but I tend to avoid natural and organic skincare products that contain a lot of plant ingredients. I have really bad plant allergies and I have had tried so many products that have given me a rash or hives that I’ve just given up. I still love natural products (I use organic coconut oil for eeeeeeeverything) but there are so many that I can’t use.

i try to stay away from any silicones & bismuth (both cause acne for me), products with mint/menthol (they irritate my skin always & even scalp sometimes), ammonium lauryl sulfate (super drying- more drying that SLS). anything with lanolin (huge painful zits- thanks burts bees! they have lanolin in everything it seems! ugh), i try to avoid petrol products, pthalates,most alcohols (again too drying) and i dont listen to anything dr. oz says. he just says to avoid everything & i think its just pretty ridiculous. he sounds like he gets paid to say certin things… i try to stay away from companies that do animal testing as well. whats the point? there are some ingredients that have been around so long why do they continue to have to test them? so stupid.

I avoid face creams that have oil in as I have spot prone skin. I’ve been using Dermalogica Active Moist Moisturiser, in conjunction with their Multi Active toner and Special Clensing Gel cleanser, and as long as I remember to take my make up off at night, my skin is really clear, plus although they are expensive they last forever, i bought my Dermalogica stuff back in february, and I’ve still got over a third of everything left!

I also use and oil free concealer-Bourgious healthy touch, i think its called, then just a light sweep of MSFN in light.

i’m mainly concerned about parabens, especially if the ingredient list of a product list like 3-4 types of them! that always sounds pretty scary to me.
especially now that there are more and more organic, completely paraben-free products that work just as well. but still, it really narrows down the number of products i can consider to buy which i don’t really mind because it makes decision so much easier from the beauty product-overload.
i also don’t wanna support animal testing companies by any means but sometimes it is very hard because you don’t always know if a brand does is or not, and sometimes you just cannot resist buying from certain brands that make high quality products (eg. Lancome) in spite of their cruel practices.
i also don’t like very heavily fragranced skin and lip products because the stong smell can be very distracting and heavy perfume is not even necessary but it’s just another artifical thing in the product.

Phtalate
Triethanolamine (very aggressive conservation agent)
Formaldehyde and related agents
Mineral Oil / Paraffin
ALS / SLS
Silicones in hair products
Lanolin (not bad in general but I react to it)
Aloe Vera (bad reactions, though that might be an invididual reaction)
Parabens if possible
EDTA because I learned that it´s very difficult to ever filter out of the water later on and I don’t think that cosmetics should include ingredients which pollute the place we depend on – but then that is true for many other ingredients, such as mineral oil and silicones, too, unfortunately.
What I also dislike are sunscreen in products like perfumes, nail polish etc, they are listed there, too, to save the product? But people will inevitably get in contact with the sunscreen then as well.

I avoid glycerin, glyceryl and mono-, di- and tri-glycerides. Not sure what source of it is intolerable for me because some glycerin products agree with my skin but most others do not. Most likely, I’m allergic to unrefined glycerin in particular, which is used in most products intended for U.S. market. Unrefined ingredients (not pure of contaminants to a certain degree) are prohibited in skincare and cosmetics for European market and pretty much the rest of the world but U.S. I’ve never had previous problems with glycerin or any other ingredient while living in Europe. Maybe it’s a climate thing though. Anyways, unrefined glycerin contains traces of petroleum and liquid soap used for glycerin production as well as other chemicals that are not even supposed to be there. Some companies are using vegetable-derived glycerin these days but it may still contain traces of other things including soap if it’s not purified. Many companies have no clue whether it’s purified or not. My skin improved dramatically after I started excluding glycerin and -glycerides from skincare, makeup, foods and even toothpaste products. The only soap I use now is Dove for sensitive skin. Also, I avoid bismuth oxychloride when it’s one of the main ingredients.